Envelope separator for printing presses



C. H. MARTlN.

ENVELOPE SEPARATOR FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLICATION FILED AUG'SO, 1920. RENEWED AP r EN i U k I 4 1,5 I: v I 50 1 J r .J 2275115555 1 Q E; mam 12a? Patented Dot. 3, i922.

tartar CHARLES H. MARTIN, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOE OF ONE-HALE T0 A. K. DELLAROWE AND ONE-HALF T0. EMMA. HULL, BOTH 0F LOS ANGELES, GALI- FORNIA.

ENVELOPE SEPABATOR FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

Application filed August 30, 1920, Serial No. 406,812.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Envelope Separator for Printing Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement constituting an attachment to a pneumatic appliance now employed 1n printing presses for picking envelopes one by one from the top of a stack of the same, and lifting them over a barrier against or close to which the edges of the envelopes lie, and depositing said envelopes one by one on the platen of the printing press in position to be printed.

it is found in actual practice with pneumatic means of the character referred to, that at times more or less frequent, one or more envelopes of the stack below the top envelope will be sucked up and carried over the barrier with the envelope that is directly held by the pneumatic device, thus causing destruction of envelope stock, and clogging of and sometimes, damage to the printing press.

An object of this invention is to avoid this difliculty by cheap and extremely simple means that are easily applied to the devices of the character referred to and which will operate to prevent any of the envelopes excepting the top one which is in direct touch with the pneumatic means, from being lifted over the barrier.

I have discovered that the desired results can be obtained by providing in the path of the upwardly moving envelopes a tappet comprising a slight protuberance or projection extending over that edge of the stack of envelopes which is adjacent to the barrier; said protuberance being so slight or so easily movable out of the way as to allow the envelope which is in direct touch and is under direct suction of the pneumatic means, to be drawn past the protuberance without disengaging the envelope from the pneumatic lifter; and yet projecting so far into the path of the envelopes as to knock Renewed flpril 15, 1922. Serial No. 553,073.

loose by laterally shifting from the topmost envelope, the succeeding envelopes.

Although the invention is so simple, as above indicated, it is broadly new, basic and pioneer in that it displaces the objects by a lateral shift thereof and is adapted to take theplace of expensive and complicated machines or devices heretofore proposed for the same purpose.

The invention is capable of being carried out in various ways and I do not limit myself to specific construction although such construction is specifically claimed herein, and comprises a tappet carried by a light spring and adapted to be moved out of the way by the topmost envelope which is in direct touch with the sucker of the pneumatic means, and to return the protuberance against the edge of the envelope or envelopes below the'topmost envelope; thus to displace the second and succeeding envelopes and break the suction produced by the topmost envelope as it rises under suction. from the pneumatic means.

That is to say, by providing a spring having a slight hump and arranging the same in such manner that the hump projects in the path of the rising envelope, the envelope which is directly lifted by the sucker and which produces a vacuum into which the second envelope is forced by air pressure from below, is allowed to be drawn past the hump by the force of the pneumatic means, while the suction between the first envelope and the second envelope is broken by what is in effect a slight tap by the tappet against the edge of the second envelope.

Preferably two springs of this character are provided for each pneumatic lifter;

and these are arranged near the ends of the barrier over which the top envelop-sis to be lifted sothat as the second envelope rises with its edge adjacent to the barrier, it will be displaced, and the suction will be broken;

and the second envelope, and those beneath it, will remain on or return to the stack while the envelope in contact with the suction device will be carried over the barrier.

Th. invention i'salso adapted to other flat thin objects such as gummed paper, and light weight sheets which are apt to be held together by air pressure during the rapid operation of the press.

An object is to enable the pneumatic device to operate satisfactorily upon all such sheets.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detail description and the appended claims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention.

Figure 1 is a fragmental elevation of a pneumatic envelope separator constructed in accordance with this invention in the preferred form.

Fig. 2 is a fragmental sectional elevation on line 00 Fig. 1, with one envelope on the sucker and a stack of envelopes in place. Broken lines indicate the depressed position of the sucker.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental sectional detail showing the flattening foot intact.

Fig. 1 is a detached fragmental rear elevation of one of the spring tappet attachments shown in Fig. 1.

The barrier 1 is much the same as the barrier common to pneumatic sheet separators of the character described. 2 indicates a rounded hump or protuberance adj ustably arranged with respect to barrier 1,v

near the level of the top edge of said barrier and above the level of the objects to be lifted over the barrier and normally non-contacting with such objects, so that the operator can adjust the same as to the distance said hump extends over the advanced edges of such objects as the envelopes a, b, 0, stacked adjacent the barrier, in position to intercept or tap loose from the directly sucked envelope a, the second and succeeding en-' velopes b, 0, as the directly sucked envelope is lifted to a level above that of the barrier, by the pneumatic appliance indicated by the suckers 3, 4: and 5. In Fig. 2 the envelope 6 is shown dropped back to rest, but is indicated in broken lines as being shifted laterally by contact with the tappet 2 as the envelope a has passed upward.

The barrier 1 is usually a metal plate arranged vertically or about so, beside and extending above the level of an envelope carriage 6. The suckers are mounted on the usual bar 7 and are reciprocated up and down to the same and the usual mechanism, not shown, in a path that is in front of the barrier 1, while the operation of lifting the envelope is effected, and they also have a movement, as is well known, over and across the top of the barrier to carry the envelopes to the platen 8.

Preferably the projections 2 are formed as humps in springs 9 which are light and are attached by suitable means as rivets 10 to the clips 11 which are strips of sheet metal adapted to extend fiatwise of the guiding face of the barrier 1 into the space between such face and the edges of the envelopes held by the carriage.

Said clips 11 are formed with retainers 12 and 13; and the upper ends of the clips are bent into loops as indicated at 14c to form guide extensions of the barrier 1.

The faces of the clips 11 serve practically as parts of the face of the barrier 1 and the spring 9 is preferably a separate piece of material lighter than the clip and extends through a slot 15 in the clip toward the usual adjustable envelope holder 16, and is adapted to yield to allow the envelope (4 which is directly held by the pneumatic means to be lifted past the tappet carried by the spring. Said springs have sufficient tension to cause the tappet to shift ordisplace the second envelope 5 from the directly lifted envelope at whereupon it will fall back to the stack while the envelope a is carried on by the suction means. The round protuberance 2 of said tappet is located above the level of the stack of envelopes and non-contacting with the envelopes after an envelope has been disengaged from under the envelope held by the pneumatic sucker.

It frequently occurs that envelopes taken from a box or package and placed upon the carriage 6 are curled or bent and are not easily caught up by the suction means so that sometimes the suction means will operate without carrying an envelope over.

To insure proper operation, a presser foot 17 is applied to the bar 7 to flatten the envelopes at the time the suckers take hold. The carriage 6 is operated by the usual resiliently held lever 18, not fully shown. In fact there is no change madein the former envelope separator except to add the clips having the springs with the limbs 2; and also, if desired add the presser foot to 0perate in conjunction with the parts described.

It is understood that the suction of the pneumatic means upon the thin flat object, such as an envelope, gummed sheets of paper, etc. will hold the object directly in touch therewith strongly enough to allow the sheet, envelope, or the like to be slid along the smooth under faces of the suckers without causing the object to drop; but such lateral sliding of the object next below will break the suction between it and the one directly in touch with the suction means.

The springs avoid violent action of the tappets and insure the requisite displacement without likelihood of injury to the gummed paper, envelopes or other'sheet like objects operated upon. I

I claim:

1. In combination with a barrier and pneumatic means adapted to engage and lift over the barrier a thin fiat object from the top of a stack of such objects lying with their edges against or close to such barrier; a tappet, the body of which extends upwardly between the plane of the guiding face of such barrier and the edges of such objects, and said tappet having a slight rounded protuberance located above the level of, and projecting over the advance edge of such objects and adapted to intercept the advance edge of such of said objects as are not in direct touch with the pneumatic lifting means.

2. In combination with a barrier and pneumatic means adapted to engage and lift over the barrier a thin flat object from the top of a stack of such objects lying with their advance edges against or close to such barrier, a tappet, the body of which extends upwardly between said barrier and the edges of such objects, said tappet having a slight rounded protuberance projecting over and above the advance edge of such objects and adapted to intercept the advance edge of such of said objects as are lifted by, but not in touch with the pneumatic lifting means; and a spring supporting said protuberance so as to allow it to be pressed out of the way by the object directly held by the suction means.

3. An attachment for pneumatic envelope separators comprising a clip adapted to be attached to the barrier against which the envelopes are held in such separator; a slight rounded protuberance resiliently mounted on said clip to displace the envelopes lifted but not directly held by the pneumatic sucker of said envelope separator; and said protuberance being located above the level of, and non-contacting with the envelopes after an envelope has been disengaged from under the directly held envelope.

4. An attachment for the envelope barrier, of an envelope separator which comprises a clip and a spring attached to said clip and provided with a slight rounded protuberance to displace by laterally shifting from the directly held envelope, such envelope or envelopes as may be carried by such directly held envelope, through suction.

in attachment for pneumatic envelope separators comprising a clip adapted to be connected to the envelope barrier and provided with a slot; and a spring connected to said clip and working in said slot and provided with a tappet to displace a second and succeeding envelope from the envelope directly carried by the suction means.

6. An attachment for the envelope barrier of a pneumatic envelope separator, comprising a clip of sheet metal bent at bottom and top to engage the barrier, and slotted to accommodate a spring; and a spring work ing in said slot and provided with a tappet to engage and displace an envelope carried by the envelope directly held by the pneumatic means. 7. In combination with an envelope barrier and a pneumatic envelope separator, resiliently mounted means to displace by laterally shifting from the directly held envelope, such envelope or envelopes as may be carried by such directly held envelope, through suction of said pneumatic envelope separator, said means contacting with such envelopes only at the time of displacement of such indirectly held envelopes.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 20th day of August, 1920.

CHAS. H. MARTIN.

Witness JAMES; R. TOWNSEND. 

